


black and white (and a little gray)

by hanjisungsslut



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Crack, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Han Jisung | Han & Lee Felix are Best Friends, Han Jisung | Han is Whipped, Han Jisung | Han-centric, Heroes, M/M, This is based on a tumblr prompt, Villains, and mentions of a plane crash, hyunlix if you squint, jisung is telekinetic, oh my god they were roommates, seungbin if you squint harder, superhero au, there’s some fighting scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22029514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanjisungsslut/pseuds/hanjisungsslut
Summary: based on a tumblr prompt.person a is a superhero who lives with person b, without knowing that person b is a supervillain. not only just a supervillain but person a’s arch nemesis.in which jisung is oblivious, minho is badass and felix is here for the snacks.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 14
Kudos: 542





	black and white (and a little gray)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aceminho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceminho/gifts).



> my writing gets weird in this one and i’m sorry in advance for that but this is a late christmas present for amanda so i love you and i hope you like this.
> 
> Note: This fic has been updated from its previous version. Changes have been made in light of recent information.

by the age of 18, han jisung thought he had a pretty good grip on the world and how it worked.

you had your good guys; people who helped those in need, who gave to charity if they could afford it, who were always looking for ways to improve the world around them.

you had your bad guys; people who wanted to watch the world burn, who stole from the innocent man and felt no remorse, who crushed any ounce of happiness they came across.

and then you had your morally gray individuals; people who did neither of these, who didn’t take sides in the matter of good and evil, who would be fine with the world burning as long as they weren’t on it when it did.

han jisung thought the world was pretty black and white (with a little gray). and because han jisung was the protagonist of his own story, he had a tragic background just like the next guy.

he lived with his aunt and uncle, having lost both of his parents to a plane crash three years prior, to which he was the sole survivor. he still suffered nightmares often, still had to attend therapy every week and his school counselor kept a watchful eye on him for most of his high school career. 

he’d heard for years, from family friends and strangers alike, that his surviving had been “a miracle.” jisung didn’t think it was a miracle. what kind of miracle claimed the lives of 150 people?

of course, the plane crash and jisung’s survival had made national news, mostly because of its location. the plane had been flying directly over the bermuda triangle, when turbulence struck and the plane took a sharp blow to the right wing, they began to spin. the plane hit the water just outside of the high tides and han jisung, barely 15, had pulled himself out of the wreckage and almost died of hypothermia before he was found.

they said he was lucky, said he was saved by the grace of god. jisung didn’t feel saved.

shortly after, when he had just been discharged from the hospital and his uncle and aunt had taken him to his new home, he began to experience some peculiar occurrences. 

items in his room would move on their own accord, usually only about an inch or two, but it was noticeable to jisung. once, when had just found out that he had to move schools after the relocation, he’d stormed off to his room and slammed the door shut with a  _ bang.  _ it took him several minutes to realize that he had not touched the door when he’d walked in and it had slammed on its own.

he swore up and down that his room was haunted and forced his cousin, jeongin, to trade with him. it only continued happening, only on a larger scale now. his books would levitate off the shelves, his pencil would fly out of his hand and across the room when he was frustrated, he swore that one night he woke up to his body suspended in the air with nothing touching him.

he boiled it down to being a ghost, and for a whils, he was satisfied with that.

things only seemed to escalate from that point forward. he was freshly 16 when the first incident outside of his room occurred. some of the bigger and dumber guys at his new school had been looking for a new victim and jisung just happened to be in their way that day.

they’d thrown him against the dark blue lockers, spitting insults and a slur or two at him. he’d wanted to fight back so badly, but he was easily outnumbered and found himself on the ground with two of the biggest guys standing over him with snarls on their faces. 

he wasn’t sure when it started, just that the foot that had been preparing to impel his guts stopped mid-air, and the bullies faces filled with horror. there was a loud ringing in jisung’s ears but he caught the tail-end of one of the bullies’ sentences.

“—lets go, marcus!” along with an insufferable banging.

the guys fled and only then did jisung’s brain registered the sight in front of him.

the lockers were opening and slamming all out of sync, over and over, no culprit to be seen. that’s when he concluded: there was no ghost. 

of course, in his confusion, he’d contacted his best friend from back home to inform him. hyunjin had been super creeped out but also intrigued and promised he’d do as much unbiased research as possible to find a reason.

long story short, hyunjin couldn't find shit. 

the occurrences had become less frequent, he even watched as a book began floating towards him once and just as he wished for it to stop, the book fell to the floor. jisung found that in certain occasions, he could almost control the force that made objects move.

but sometimes he could not control the force. 

it was during his fourth period class that the second incident occurred and right as jisung was taking a test. his binder that was previously placed under him began to shift and jisung panicked as it floated in front of his face. luckily, he sat at the back of the room, and nobody sat around him. 

he swatted the binder, whispering small curses as he tried to bat it down, but he couldn’t reach it without standing and  _ that  _ would cause a scene. 

his cursing must have caught the attention of a boy a few seats up, because he turned around to find jisung playing cat and mouse with a floating binder. the boys eyes went wide and he almost laughed at the boy desperately trying to tug it down.

the boy stood up to turn in his test, and before too much attention could be drawn to the back of the room, he plucked the binder from its hovering spot in the air, and placed it under the desk in front of jisung. the squirrel-like boy smiled apologetically and subtly began to panic. how would he explain this? 

he finished the rest of his test in silence, barely turning it in before the bell rang and everyone began to rush out. jisung was hoping he could escape the conversation by dashing out fast, but the boy had other ideas. he waited by the door and the minute jisung stepped out, he was walking beside him.

“dude, what’s your deal?” the boy asked, tugging at the straps of his backpack. jisung winced.

“what do you mean?” he tried to play dumb and he hoped it was working. the boy rolled his eyes.

“uh, the binder that starting literally floating in the middle of our test?! a floating binder that you didn’t seem too surprised by?” 

jisung took a deep breath, hoping silently to himself that he could pass this off without much trouble. he  _ really  _ didn’t need the rest of the school knowing about this. 

“i don’t know what you’re talking about.” the response sounded weak, even to him.

the boy stopped right in front of jisung, his freckled cheeks catching the sunlight. 

“spill.”

and that’s how han jisung, age 17, found himself sat around his kitchen table with two of his best friends. lee felix, who had saved his ass from a levitating binder during a test, and hwang hyunjin, who was a total geek and his only friend from back home. it was a long weekend and hyunjin had traveled to come see jisung, or more than likely, to come see the force for himself.

“there’s only one explanation, you know.” hyunjin said as they played poker one night. jisung fixed him with a stare, unsure of what hyunjin was about to say next.

“it’s you. you’re have superpowers.”

jisung shivered, throwing down another chip. 

“you’re delusional. and also, you suck at this game.”

even still, hyunjin encouraged jisung to continuing trying to control the force and he did. the more he taught himself how to stop it, the easier it became, and the quicker he realized with a pool of dread that he could move things too. he hated to admit it, but hyunjin was right.

jisung sighed, his body hovering mid-air about two feet off his bed. felix was sat on the floor, an open notebook and an open chocolate bar in front of him. hyunjin was on the window sill, his laptop balanced on his knee as he typed. 

“how about telekinetic boy?” hyunjin said, gesturing with his hands for emphasis. felix and jisung groaned.

“oh wow, wish i had thought of that one.” jisung countered, the sarcasm in his voice fueling every word. hyunjin threw up his hands in defeat.

“i don’t see you making any suggestions.” 

jisung shrugged, “that’s because i don’t plan on  _ actually  _ doing this. you know that i barely have control over this, don't you?” 

hyunjin seemed particularly annoyed by this.

“you’re right,” he said with a shrug, much too easy for hyunjin, “you couldn’t handle it anyway.”

jisung dropped to his bed and was in a sitting position immediately, his eyes narrowed and focused on hyunjin, who only offered him an innocent smile.

“is that a challenge, hwang?”

at the same time felix said “no, it’s not,” hyunjin said, “yes, it is.”

they all three glared at each other, waiting for one of them to crack. felix dropped out first, letting his head fall to his hands with a groan. 

“you had better be coming up with better names than that. i am not flying around this city with a name like “telekinetic boy.””

hyunjin smirked, seemingly satisfied with that answer as he returned typing.

“you can’t even fly, anyway.”

+++

jisung  _ can _ fly. 

well, not exactly fly.

jisung can levitate and move his body at his own will, which hyunjin insisted is not the same as flying. at first, he’s absolutely shit at it, managing to lift himself 20 feet in the air before losing focus and crash into the ground at an alarming rate.

he rolled around on the grass for a few minutes, moaning and groaning in pain that had disappeared several minutes ago. felix and hyunjin eventually sat down too.

“any developments on my kick-ass name?”

hyunjin shook his head, curling into felix's side. felix smiled and patted the older’s hair, before his eyes wandered to jisung.

“i did think of something, actually. telekinesis is kind of like the whole mind over matter thing, right? except that matter is dependent on your mind now.”

jisung nodded, not quite sure where the australian was going with this.

“i was thinking, the mattermind. like mastermind but matter.”

jisung clicked his tongue. it wasn’t terrible and definitely a lot better than what hyunjin had come up with. he thought about it for a while, not even realizing he was subconscious lifting himself up off the ground until felix giggled.

“yeah. i like it.”

thus was the birth of the superhero mattermind.

jisung hit the gym shortly after, curiosity of hyunjin insisting he was too scrawny to be intimidating. he worked on controlling his powers, his fighting skills and anything else he thought could potentially affect his performance.

he didn’t have a suit or anything fancy, just sweatpants and a hoodie and an ugly mask to cover his face. he didn’t have to engage, he wasn’t going to be seen, so he didn’t worry about his face.

at first, he did petty jobs. small robberies, bullies in his town, people getting locked out of their cars. and then, he got more well-known. people were talking and the masked boy seemed to go over huge. he decided he needed a better disguise.

jeongin wasn’t exactly a fashion designer, but he knew how to handle fabrics due to his mother’s sewing phase. he somehow managed to combine his skills and felix’s to create a rubber one-piece with bulky pieces of metal to keep him safe. all in all, he looked ridiculous, but he wasn’t here to look pretty.

and that’s how he found himself here, standing in front of a college dorm room, with several boxes in his arms and a strange feeling in his stomach.

he had tried and failed three different times to work up the courage to simply  _ knock.  _ this was his dorm too, but knowing the other resident was already here made him uneasy.

before he could go over his inner-turmoil again. the door to the room swung open and there stood one of the most beautiful men jisung had ever seen.

brown hair fell in the boys eyes, and jisung got absolutely lost in them. they sparkled and captured the light so perfectly, jisung hadn’t heard what the boy said to him. 

“i’m sorry— what?” he stuttered as his cheeks heated.

“i said,” oh god his voice was pretty too, “you’ve been standing out here for almost 15 minutes just staring at the door. i was starting to worry.”

the boy, despite his words, did not sound worried. jisung cleared his throat, shifting the boxes in his hands a little to get a better grip. 

“yeah. i’m alright. this is my dorm i think.” why did he sound so awkward?

the boy hummed and then a weight was lifted from jisung’s hands, and he realized the boy had grabbed one of the boxes. jisung hesitantly followed where the boy had gone, into a small subunit of the dorm. the rooms and the kitchenette were a luxury of the larger dorms.

he placed his boxes next to the empty bed, letting out a quiet huff as his arms were free from the weight. a hand presented itself to him.

“my name’s minho.” 

jisung stares before snapping himself out of it and shaking the other boys hand. how was he supposed to live with such a gorgeous person?

“i’m jisung.”

for the first time, the boy—minho—smiled warmly.

+++

living with minho was a challenge.

it wasn’t really minho himself, he was fine, a little cold and uninterested sometimes, but fine. the real challenge was jisung’s abilities. the past year of hyunjin and felix knowing his little secret had made him way too comfortable and he didn’t think twice about letting a coffee mug float into his hand or straight up levitate while he studied. 

minho didn’t ever notice, most of the time he wasn’t in the room when jisung accidentally used his powers for mundane things, but he knew he had to get a handle on it,  _ fast. _

“hyunjin,” jisung whined on facetime one night, “he walked in the living yesterday and i was  _ suspended ten feet in the air _ . ten feet! do you know how fast i dropped to the couch? i think i broke my ass bone!”

hyunjin snorted. “why were you trying to fly around your dorm anyway? we get it, it’s big, you’re rich.” 

jisung rolled his eyes, glad to have his own room so he could have these kinds of conversations in private. 

“it’s subconscious. i didn’t know i was doing it until his door opened and suddenly my ass hurt.” jisung hugged a pillow to his chest as he said it, silently hoping the walls were thick enough that minho wouldn’t hear. 

he hadn’t spoken to his roommate much, usually their schedules ended up on opposite ends. they both had classes during the day and then at night, minho went to work and jisung left early in the morning to go to the gym. on weekends, jisung usually had to explore the city on his own, seeing as minho always seemed to leave and not return until late. there wasn’t much time to talk, really. 

“do you think there’s any chance he knows?” hyunjin replied, before looking suddenly off screen and starting to yell. jisung sighed.

“no way. he hasn’t even spoken more than twenty words to me and you’re asking if he suspects i’m a superhero?” 

hyunjin’s yelling got louder, and then suddenly, felix was on the screen. 

“hey dipshits, neither of you would answer my calls!” felix sounded out of breath, his face covering hyunjin’s in the monitor. 

“we were on call.” hyunjin said, each word ending with a slap on felix’s arm. 

“now is not the time, hwang. jisung, there’s an emergency in the middle of the city.” 

jisung perked up, his eyes flickering to the box still unopened in the corner of his room. the box that had his suit and his mask. 

“what kind of emergency?”

“see for yourself.”

jisung moves his laptop off his lap, raising an eyebrow as he made his way towards his window. smoke gathered in the sky like a gray blanket lying over the city. the tops of skyscrapers were masked with the thick cloud that only seemed to be getting bigger.

he could hardly see the flames that licked about one of the buildings, right in the middle of the city. 

“which building is it?” he found himself switching into superhero mode as he tugged the box in the corner open, ripping out his suit and mask. felix answered. 

“fifth avenue, building 76, it’s a tech office. run by lancaster and co. the fire started about ten minutes ago, no casualties yet but the staff says the big man is still in his office on the 34th floor.”

jisung’s suit was a little tight on his legs, he assumed that’s from all the muscle-building he’s done in his legs for the past few months. 

“lee felix, you are a god.”

“i know. now go save some rich man’s ass so you can treat us to lobster later.” 

jisung rolled his eyes as he strapped on the final part of his suit. he adjusted his chest plate one last time before sliding on the mask, feeling the cold plastic practically melt across his face.

“alright boys,” he said, imagining dramatic music playing behind him, “let’s go save the world.” 

he climbed out of his window, the faded shouts of his friends flowing out into the night air behind him.

“it's a burning building, not a nuclear apocalypse!”

“and use the door, you degenerate!”

flying (or rather, levitating according to hyunjin) was one of jisung’s favorite things to do. he loved being miles above the tallest skyscrapers in the city, watching over citizens like some sort of guardian angel. felix said he was more like a superhuman creep, but you couldn’t win every battle.

despite himself, he didn’t sightsee as much tonight, making an immediate beeline for the building with smoke clouding around it at an alarming rate. firefighters were at the base of the building, surrounded by civilians and paramedics attending to employees. he searched for an open window, hoping to god that his lungs were strong enough to stand the smoke.

he located one of the backside of the building, landing gently on his feet just inside the office. it was  _ hot,  _ unbearably so. flames licked about around him, filling the room with a thick cloud of white.

he knew he’d landed on the 28th floor, which meant he needed to go up. it took him longer than jisung would like to admit to find the stairwell, dodging flames and trying his hardest to keep his shallow breathing in his elbow. 

the stairwell was well-lit and didn’t seem to be yet touched by the flames happening all around them. he made it up about three flights, hoping with every fiber in him that the CEO was still up there, when he encountered another individual in the middle of the stairs.

the man was dressed in all black, a bright red mask pulled over the lower half of his face and everything but his eyes cloaked with a mask. he stopped at the top of the stairs when he spotted jisung and for a second, the man just stared. there was something oddly familiar about his eyes.

jisung was distracted by the smell of burning metal, and his eyes darted to the stair railings the man was holding, watching as they melted beneath his palm and hand-shaped burns littered up them. and holy hell did jisung know what was happening, he’d read too many comic books not to know.

this was his first supervillain.

the man seemed to register that jisung was his polar opposite as well, because within a second of the hero’s realization, the man grabbed both hand railings and brought his feet up and right into jisung’s chest.

he flew back, tumbling down the stairs and onto the floor. his chest plate had taken most of the impact, but the force of the kick had  _ hurt.  _ jisung lifted his head just in time to anticipate the man’s next move, rolling to the side to avoid a huge fireball that exploded through the wall next to him.

before the villain could create another, jisung used his powers to send the man flying backwards into the wall. he met jisung’s gaze and again, the staring started. the villain lunged first, tackling jisung and pinning him to the floor. his fingers burned the sides of jisung’s wrists.

something snapped in him and before he knew it, he found himself pushing his knees into the strangers back and using the leverage to get free. he capitulated to his feet quickly, spinning around and slamming the heel of his foot into the side of the villain’s face. 

the other took the opportunity and grabbed ahold of jisung’s ankle, pulling him to the ground. the villain was up in a second, grabbing jisung and slamming his face into the railings. he’s pretty sure his nose just broke. 

the man threw jisung back against the wall, sending a rather large string of fire into his side. jisung yelped as it touched his skin, burning through the rubber in his suit and  _ oh yeah,  _ that’s definitely his flesh scorching.

he watched helplessly as the villain climbed over the railings, sending jisung a condescending wave before he dropped 30 floors.

tears were falling from jisung’s eyes, this pain was nothing like he’d ever felt before. still, maybe it was the adrenaline that kept him going, or maybe the fact that he wasn’t sure the CEO was out of the building. nonetheless, he pulled himself off the floor with nothing short of a scream, limping up the stairs while trying to hold his side and also not touch the burned skin.

he somehow was able to make it up the next few floors, falling into the hallway that led to the office on the 34th floor. the CEO had better be thankful for his efforts. he was able to carry himself all the way to the end of the hall, a big glass room catching his attention. it looked like a conference room, a long table and many chairs sat around. inside, a man in a nice suit struggled to send a chair through a window. 

with a single look at the door, the lock was undone and the door swung open. the man, presumably the CEO, watched in awe as jisung stumbled in, a hand carefully looming above his side. and that was when jisung witnessed a man break into tears.

honestly, he was kind of over it, so when the man attempted to throw his arms around jisung’s neck, he received a firm hand to the chest beforehand. he grabbed ahold of the man’s arm, dragging him to the elevator and using his power to summon it. the CEO kept trying to tell him that the elevator was shut down in the event of a fire, but jisung didn’t respond, just watched his face when it appeared.

he sent it down to the first floor, not even bothering to listen to the man’s endless thank yous. his side hurt and his head was starting to feel fuzzy. jisung walked right past the firefighters on the first floor, dropping the CEO in the hands of one of the paramedics astonished with jisung’s arrival. 

he was feeling  _ very  _ lightheaded. luckily, he had the good sense to duck into an alley and pull his phone from the hidden compartment in his thigh.

“felix?”

he heard rustling from the other end of the phone and a small “ouch” from hyunjin.

“yes?” felix answered, sounding concerned.

“good news: i saved the CEO.” he heard a cheer from the other end of the phone. “bad news: this fire wasn’t accidental.”

instantly, the cheering stopped and when felix spoke again, he sounded much more serious.

“somebody caused it?”

jisung swallowed. “a villain. he’s a...what’s the word for fire starter but like genetically?”

“pyrokinetic.” hyunjin breathed in disbelief. “i thought jisung was the only freak in the city.” jisung hated how serious the insult sounded.

“apparently not,” he replied through gritted teeth, “he also may have took out a chunk of my side and i’m kinda not feeling my greatest, fellas.”

that seemed to stop any sign of jokes as a million questions began to come through the phone in a haste.

“are you still at the building?”

“we’re coming to get you, are you with anybody?”

“have you seen the paramedics?”

“are you putting pressure on the wound?”

“it’s a burn, hyunjin, you don’t put pressure on it.”

“what if it’s bleeding?”

“it’s a  _ burn!” _

“guys,” jisung interrupted, hearing how out-of-it he sounded, “i’m in an alley beside the office. i think i’m about to pass out.” 

the voices of his friend fades into the background as his eyes got heavy. jisung could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness with every passing second, unsure of how long he sat against the wall just dozing off. he was vaguely aware of somebody wrapping their arm around his waist and carrying him from the alley with his toes dragging the concrete.

there was an unfamiliar scent that reached his nose and a subtle wetness on his cheek. he felt himself gently be placed down and the air around him instantly felt fresher, cleaner. he wasn’t able to hear anything anymore, the ringing in his ears so powerful that it hurt.

a few more minutes passed before he felt himself being picked up again, this time falling into the backseat of a car. he recognized a voice as hyunjins, heard him frantically shouting on the phone with someone.

they rode in silence, the car abruptly stopping and then he was being lifted again. all he wanted to do was take a nap and here he was, being tossed about like a ragdoll.

his back was suddenly cold and muffled voices surrounded him before he faded into darkness.

+++

jisung woke up with a throbbing headache.

he blinked, immediately shutting his eyes at the blinding light in his eyes. his body felt groggy, but not in pain, so he groaned as he sat up into a sitting position.

“he’s awake!” that was felix's voice.

several bodies crowded him, an unfamiliar voice coming from the other side of the room almost instantly.

“give him some space, we don’t know what is going on.” jisung opened his eyes to see a boy, slightly younger than himself, standing over a tray of what looked like surgical tools. his hair was a light silver, his facial features soft and eyes almost like a puppy’s. 

oh yeah. jisung had been burned last night. by a villain. he inhaled shakily as he looked down. his black t-shirt had a rip in the side where the burn had been, the ends frayed and shredded, but the skin underneath was completely clean, untouched. his eyes bulged.

“we don’t know how it happened either,” puppy dog eyes explained, “the minute i pinched your skin together to insert the stitches, it sealed right on its own, not even a scar left behind. i wouldn’t believe it if i didn’t witness it myself.”

jisung fixed the boy with a dubious stare. he offered a hand.

“kim seungmin. i’m a certified assistant nurse.” jisung shook his hand. he gestured to a man beside jisung, one who hadn't moved away when seungmin ordered everyone to. “that’s changbin. he’s the other nurse.”

changbin looked offended. “other nurse? you wound me, seungmin.” 

seungmin rolled his eyes, moving on the other side of jisung to check where his burn should be. strangely enough, jisung not only looked but  _ felt  _ completely fine. 

“do you have some sort of healing abilities that you know of?” seungmin asked while inspecting the skin. jisung glanced at felix and hyunjin, nervously laughing.

seungmin met his eye and stared head-on, obviously expecting an answer. jisung shook his head. the nurse hummed, moving to mess a machine on the wall. he typed out a sequence of codes, then turned back to jisung.

“are you feeling any effects? mentally or emotionally?” jisung shook his head to both. “what about memory loss? can you move all your limbs?” he flexed all of his muscles before nodding.

“any chances with your power?” 

jisung froze. seungmin didn’t seem to notice, just scribbling down everything jisung was confirming. he paused when he saw the expression on jisung’s face, raising an eyebrow.

“i know you’re telekinetic, jisung. try to move something, see if anything’s been affected.” seungmin went back to scribbling. jisung’s eyes found hyunjins and gave him a look. who the hell was this guy in the first place and how did his friends know to bring him here?

jisung found the tray in front of him, deciding to move it up and down in the air before letting it back down on the table. he shrugged. “seems alright.”

seungmin hummed again, setting down the paper he was writing on and turning to changbin. “what did you find on the boy?” 

changbin presented the tablet he was holding to seungmin, moving his fingertip across the screen as the other observed. seungmin’s brow furrowed as changbin continued scrolling.

“too many candidates. it’s impossible to tell.” he concluded.

“so we’ve got no leads on who did this, and no way to find them?” hyunjin spoke for the first time since jisung woke up. 

seungmin nodded. “we’ll find them eventually. for now, it seems like you’re good to go home, jisung. i’m not sure what kind of power you have if you didn’t even know you could heal yourself, but it appears that study is for another time. go home and rest, and don’t strain yourself or use your power for the next few days.”

seungmin was oddly bossy for being the youngest person in the room.

felix and hyunjin helped jisung off the table, leading him up a flight of stairs and into the streets where the car was parked. the sky was black and littered with stars, the streets practically empty. jisung frowned.

“what time is it?” he asked as he climbed in the backseat.

“it’s two in the morning. you were only out for a few hours.” felix replied and began to drive, not thinking twice before letting hyunjins head fall in his shoulder.

they dropped jisung off at his dorm and he silently hoped that he could sneak in one of the two living room windows without waking minho. what an explanation that would be.

but because jisung has no good luck, he took quite possibly the noisiest route up to the front living room window, almost letting down a ladder to the fire escape in the process. he made it to the window, carefully sliding it open and beginning to climb inside, not even noticing how a pair of eyes watched him from across the living room.

when jisung looked up, he almost fell out of the window. minho was staring back at him, one leg swung over the sill of the other window, a bewildered look on his face.

jisung couldn’t help but notice how pretty minho looked under the moonlight hitting his face. not now, gay thoughts.

“oh.” jisung, an intellectual. “uh, you’re not working tonight?” obviously not. minho shook his head, not moving in or out of the window.

“got off early.” he replied, shortly.

“oh really? why?” jisung winced at how awkward he sounded. here they were, both climbing into their own room through the windows way too late at night.

minho shrugged, his gaze flickering to something outside the window for a moment, trying to appear nonchalant. jisung saw his jaw tighten anyway. “building caught fire.”

jisung couldn’t help but sputter, causing minho to look at him with a strange emotion. he cleared his throat, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

“you...you work at lancaster and co.?” 

“i’m an intern.” minho looked awfully good with his eyebrow raised like a cocky bastard just then.

“wow. that’s uh, that’s impressive.” 

“not really.” minho swing his other leg over the window sill, choosing to sit on it instead. jisung, realizing how uncomfortable he was, climbed all the way in and shut his.

“was uh, was anybody hurt?” jisung had the brain to ask, knowing he wasn’t supposed to know anything about the fire.

“most of the staff were cleared at the scene. the really important people were taken to the hospital to get checked, those of us poorer, less important people could basically just walk away.” minho's voice sounded bitter and slightly angry, but jisung couldn’t help but think that was the most minho had ever said to him, and he was kind of glad. 

still, he didn’t know how to reply to such a statement. “oh. uh, i’m sorry? are you okay though?” 

minho pushed off the window sill, choosing to stand in front of it instead. he turned a little and jisung noticed a bruise blooming on minho's left cheek. 

“yeah.” minho said, “i was one of the first out. i’m fine.”

jisung didn’t say anything about the bruise, assuming the older wouldn’t want to talk about it. “good.” 

the silence around them became heavy and uncomfortable and jisung didn’t know where to take the conversation from here, so he just went after the elephant in the room.

“uhm. why are you coming in through the window?” he watched as minho met his gaze, his eyes intense and deep. jisung could spend hours staring at them.

“why are you?” he countered and jisung knew that was fair.

“good point. do you want to go to bed and pretend this didn’t happen?” 

for the first time since the day he moved in, jisung saw minho smile. he looked relieved and a little tired and jisung couldn’t help but think that he liked seeing minho smile. it was refreshing.

“gladly.” he said, already moving towards his room with fatigued steps. he stopped in front of his door, glancing back at jisung with his hand on the knob. “goodnight, jisung.”

jisung grinned. “goodnight, minho.”

+++

the next morning, jisung was disappointed to find out seungmin had told felix and hyunjin to not allow jisung to go to the gym, and while he could have easily gone and not told them, he couldn’t find it in himself to lie to his friends. so, he stayed home from those two hours, choosing to sit in the living room until he had to go to class.

minho was sitting in one of the chairs when he walked out, sipping on a cup of coffee and sporting a nasty bruise on his left cheek. jisung almost grimaced are the color of it.

“oh hey,” minho said when he noticed jisung standing in the doorway, “you’re usually gone by now.” 

jisung shrugged, trying hard not to stare at the discoloration. “my friends convinced me to lay off the gym for a few days. they’re worried that I'll burn myself out or something.” he almost laughed at the pun. 

minho made a noise of agreement, the way his eyes raked over the younger’s body did not go unnoticed. 

“your friends are smart,” he said with another sip of his coffee, “no need to overwork yourself.” 

jisung nodded, moving to pour himself a cup and sit by the older. after making his drink to his own satisfaction, he couldn’t help but let his gaze wander back to the bruise on his roommates face.

“i’m sorry, i have to ask,” he cringed at the way minho startled by his sudden words, “what happened to your face?”

a grimace crosses minho's face at the question, his hand drifting up to the bruise. it looked like it hurt.

“i got trampled when i was trying to leave the building last night. people freaked out at the fire alarm and just started running.”

jisung frowned. “you said you were okay last night.”

minho turned to him with a soft look, those eyes equally as intense as usual, but not nearly as intimidating. “i’m fine, jisung. it’s just a bruise.”

if jisung thought minho was pretty in the moonlight,  _ god _ he was gorgeous in the daylight. jisung hadn’t had time to really look at minho since he moved in almost a month ago, and now that he was, he couldn’t believe how attractive the older was.

he didn’t realize minho could see him staring until he smirked knowingly. jisung still didn’t look away, he was rather confident in himself, too confident for his own good as felix told him. 

and despite his ice cold exterior, lee minho was surprisingly easy to talk to.

+++

the next few weeks, jisung found himself changing up his routine. he skipped the gym in the morning, choosing to go at night now and instead spending his mornings talking to minho.

he liked his roommate a lot, now that he was getting to know him. minho was a dancer, he had three cats back home who he loved a lot, he didn’t like to wear cologne because the scent was too strong, so he often used febreeze.

jisung found that it was really easy to get minho to laugh. he could mock something hyunjin said on call and minho would be doubled-over in seconds and though hyunjin didn’t particularly like being clowned by somebody he didn’t know, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

there hadn’t been any major emergencies either, so jisung didn’t really have a whole lot of superhero duties to attend to. jeongin had sent him a new suit, a late moving present that was absolutely perfect.

he still used a plastic mask, but the suit itself was practically indestructible. jeongin had convinced felix to help him upgrade it and now it had a bunch of tech built-in that jisung didn’t entirely know how to use.

every day when minho would leave, jisung would tamper with the suit some more, finding a new feature almost every time to freak out over. 

it became harder not to tell minho about his abilities, he wanted so badly to show them off and impress the boy, but he knew better than to do something so reckless. he was quickly becoming one of jisung’s best friends, and he didn’t want to mess that up at all.

it had been almost a month since lancaster and jisung was sitting in his room with the suit in his lap as he messed with the built-in gloves. his phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it, ready to scream all about the suit.

“felix, dude, this is so—“

“jisung.” the seriousness of felixs voice had his mouth cramping shut.

“fifth avenue has another blaze. this time it’s at pennington tech. nobody was working today due to a power outage but it’s still burning pretty bad.”

jisung groaned, switching the phone to speaker as he shoved into the suit. 

“what do you want me to do?” jisung asked as he slid the comms unit into his ear. felix's voice was much clearer now.

“there’s water jets in your forearm compartments, just hit the button on your knuckle. just put the fire out before it spreads and destroys the entire district.”

jisung offered a “roger that” before climbing out of the window and flying towards fifth avenue. a strange feeling settled in his stomach. was the stranger he’d met in the stairwell the cause of this fire too? what was he hoping to get out of setting buildings on fire?

pennington tech was a rather large building, only slightly smaller than lancaster and co. yet still considered one of the largest buildings in new york. jisung occasionally passed it on his way home, always marveling at the glorious architecture and bustling crowd of people moving in and out of the glass doors.

pennington tech didn’t look so glorious now. flames engulfed the lower half of the building while many pedestrians had stopped on the sidewalk to watch the buildings demise. there were broken windows and burning wood scattered all around the lowest floors.

even though he knew nobody was supposed to be working, jisung couldn’t shake the feeling that he  _ had  _ to check the upper levels. 

seemingly untouched by the blaze below, the upper levels looked exactly like what jisung imagined every office building that wasn’t on fire looked like. there were rows and rows of desks with matching computers, probably hundreds of them. each station had some sort of character, whether it be a picture frame or an advent calendar or sticky notes all over the monitor. jisung wondered what the office-life was like.

a strangled groan brought him out of his fantasies and reminded him that the building was, in fact, burning from the ground up. all the doors in the hall were closed, except for one.

jisung peaked around the doorframe, disappointed but honestly not surprised at the sight he saw. 

the CEO, he presumed, of pennington tech was tied to the ceiling by his waist, his hands and feet bound and mouth taped shut. jisung sighed as he approached the man who watched him with pleading eyes. he was already rolling his eyes before he ripped the tape off the man’s lips.

“please tell me this is some kind of kink thing and not because somebody tied you up and left you to burn.” jisung was not entirely sure where the confidence to say such a thing to one of the most influential men in the city came from, but the words left his tongue anyway.

up close, he could see the giant gash on the man’s forehead, the busted lip and trail of blood running from his nose down his chin. the man gasped, struggling against the ropes as if his movement could free himself.

“it’s him! it’s that brat!” the man spat in a strained voice. he looked ridiculous like this, one of the most powerful men in the city, tied to the ceiling of his own office by his wrists, thrashing helplessly. and sure, jisung felt bad for the man, but at the same time, it was a little funny.

the building shook and jisung very quickly did not think the situation was funny anymore. he made quick work of untying the CEO, letting him fall to the floor without grace.

“what brat?” jisung finally asked, fearing that he most definitely already knew the answer. 

“arson. they’re calling him arson.” the CEO coughed into his sleeve. 

“who’s calling him arson?” 

“the media. everybody knows about you two, enemies or something. you’re mattermind, right?”

well that was news to him. jisung really needed to watch the news more.

the media had already claimed a guy he fought one time as his enemy? he briefly wondered if the stranger knew before deciding that it really didn’t matter when the building could cave in on itself any second now. 

instead of responding, jisung pulled the man to his feet, dragging him towards the stairwell. he heard the man mumbling incoherently, only catching onto a few words. 

“...failed...doesn’t even use it...brat…always knew…” jisung didn’t care to hear the rest. they were able to make it down to where jisung had entered through an open window, and he didn’t think twice before lifting the man bridal style and easing them down to the pavement. he’s never felt a death grip this tight on his shoulders before. 

he was still muttering when jisung placed him on the ground, having to forcefully remove the man’s fingernails from his shoulders. the CEO began throwing a tantrum, ranting and raving to jisung about how much it was going to cost to fix something like this.

the hair on the back jisung’s neck stood up and he was suddenly uncomfortable, like he was being watched. he looked up at the upper levels of the building, watching in horror as the dimly lit floor was quickly decorated in red and orange. oh hell.

“sorry sir, looks like the fun isn’t over yet.” he cut the CEO off mid-rant, looking toward the sky. the man grit his teeth, fists clenched at his sides. “go destroy that bastard.”

jisung said nothing in response. he was a fool to think arson was done yet. 

a window was busted on the floor where the fire was spreading, just a few floors where the CEO had been tied up. jisung must have gotten there just after he was bound.

it was difficult to stalk through a building that was literally on fire, the smoke filling his lungs and making him cough into his sleeve every five seconds was not a great tactic for stealth.

he came to a room at the back of the building, a large empty room, devoid of any furniture or supplier. a window stretched the length of the back wall overlooking the bay. it was broken. it seemed this room had been locked, the door handle broken and sitting in pieces on the floor.

jisung didn’t even have to question who the figure standing amongst the broken glass was, didn’t even have to see his masked face to guess what he was there for. his wrists tingled, a memory of the other man’s scorching fingertips that had melted his skin down to the bone the first time. 

“you.” it wasn’t a question, they both knew it.

“me.” the man confirmed, his gaze still trained on the skyline outside. 

there was something strange about the way he held himself, something almost familiar. jisung couldn’t place what it is about the man he recognized. 

“why?” he asked a question he knew he wouldn’t get a solid answer to. instead, he got a chuckle.

“you know, i ask myself that question every day. you wanna know what kind of answers i get?” 

jisung said nothing.

“i get silence.”

how fitting.

jisung scoffed, not entirely interested in the conversation they were having. the building around them was burning and while this man may be able to stand the flames, jisung’s lungs were already feeling tight.

despite himself, he continued. “is this the part where you reveal to me your tragic backstory?” 

the villain cast a glance at jisung over his shoulder. even under the mask, jisung could see his smirk. he kind of hated it.

“or we could just skip to the good part.”

the man spun, a ring of fire forming around him. the flames went like the ones before, they were tall and the heat emitting off of them was almost unbearable. they reflected in the only part of the man visible; his eyes.

it was driving jisung crazy, being unable to place the familiarity of the man, but the thing that drove his the craziest were those eyes. he knew those eyes.

arson threw a fireball aimed directly at jisung’s face, one he was barely able to dodge in time. he realized the villain had him trapped. how could he move objects when there were no objects nearby? 

another burst came at him, this time sending him to the ground to avoid. he didn’t have much to use or much time to think, so he used the only thing he could.

the door went flying off its hinges, slamming right into the figure of the villain. the force knocked him back into the shards of glass, jisung heard a strangled groan and saw red coat one of the shards. 

another burst was launched, striking jisung in the leg. he fell to the ground with nothing short of a yelp, watching as the skin of his leg turned black. there was no way he’d heal in time to hold his own.

jisung could not believe this was how he was going to die.

the villain eyed him curiously, the fire around him beginning to grow smaller. jisung figured he could try to reason with him.

however, what came out of his mouth was, “this is quite possibly the worst way i’ve ever been rejected and a girl once poured chili on my head.” 

the villain scoffed, taking a step back from the scene. “if you think i’m going to kill you, you’d be mistaken. i’m not a bad guy.”

jisung’s head snapped up, watching the villain carefully for any sign of humor. there wasn’t any. 

“what kind of villain isn’t a bad guy?” 

the villain, yet again, scoffed. “might want to think twice about who you’re defending, hero. i am not the bad guy.”

before jisung could respond, the flames surrounding the other were put out and the man threw his arms out to the side and leaned back.

“see you around.” he smirked, before falling backwards out of the window and into the water below.

jisung was able to pull himself up, traveling to an alley nearby without being seen by too many. his burn healed within a few minutes but it was still too long to have fought back. 

the worst challenge wasn’t avoiding civilians or flying through the air or even battling a literal

blaze. the worst challenge was climbing through his window for the second time in a few weeks without catching the attention of his roommate. the challenge went from difficult to impossible when he discovered minho sitting on the couch in their living room.

jisung has never been so thankful for felix making him wear clothes under his suit. it was almost comedic, the image of an 18-year-old boy stripping metal and plastic off his body on a fire escape, trying desperately to shove the material to the side discreetly. 

he was lucky enough to get it off, but was not lucky enough to slip in through the window, instead, he tumbled through it, landing on a flower pot and managing to get one of his legs stuck when the window closed on it.

not his proudest moment.

minho watched him with a quirked eyebrow, trying his best not to chuckle at the blond. he waited for jisung to get himself upright and somewhat sorted before speaking.

“good evening, jisung.”

jisung’s entire face was red. “good evening, minho.”

he saw how the corner of the older’s mouth trembled while he fought off a smile. jisung appreciated the effort.

“nice weather we’re having.” minho commented with a vague gesture.

the sky was dark and cloudy but the air was humid and  _ god,  _ was it hot for autumn. but jisung still offered a weak smile. he couldn’t even blame minho when he busted out laughing.

“i’m sorry, why are you coming in through the window again? the door  _ does  _ work.” jisung was not exactly comprehending the words, his brain a little occupied with the stunning smile the older boy wore.

“uh,” his brain could not supply a single thought, “it’s a new exercise?” jisung did not sound convincing in the slightest. but it got minho to laugh again.

“i have wondered, how are you able to make it up on the fire escape? it’s a pretty high jump.”

oh god, jisung did not think that one through. it was too far of a jump for any normal human to make, how was he going to explain it to his roommate that he’s a literal scientific anomaly.

“parkour?” he found himself stupidly saying. minho didn’t seem convinced but he let it slide. he patted the spot next to him on the couch, an invitation for jisung to sit next to him, though jisung knew he wasn’t really asking.

he sat a safe distance away from the other, making sure to leave him enough room for personal space, but minho wasn’t having any of it. in a split second, his knee was now knocking against minho’s, his shoulder pressed against the older. he willed his sad little heart to stop beating so loudly.

jisung wasn’t a moron. he’d seen the pride flag covering over half of his roommates wall above his bed, and in turn, he’d bought a pride bracelet which he wore every day of his college life. he knew some of the things his roommate said and did were a little too flirty to be friendly, knew the constant touching he’d grown comfortable with was definitely not just bros being bros. but minho never said anything and he didn’t show signs of  _ wanting _ to say anything, so jisung just assumed that’s how minho was.

perhaps that is why he doesn’t think anything of it when minho slings an arm around his shoulders and gives him that smile that makes him look like a cat. they watch the rest of whatever minho was watching when jisung ducked in, though neither of them are actually paying attention to the film anymore.

when the credits begin to roll and the theme song begins to play, minho lifts himself off the couch, raising his arms above his head to stretch. he turns around when a horrified gasp leaves jisung’s mouth. 

“oh my god,” jisung says, staring at minho's back. he almost makes a joke, but the look on the others face stops him. “minho, what the hell happened?”

the older boy was confused, his face showing as much. jisung grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the small bathroom they shared. minho was absolutely confused but didn’t fight the younger’s death grip. the blond threw him into the bathroom, mumbling something about getting a first-aid kit.

minho glanced behind him in the mirror, and that’s when he realized what had freaked jisung out so much. there was a large, thick stripe of blood soaking through the back of his shirt and he was now aware of the warm liquid running down his back. he groaned at the sight. 

jisung ran back in, a small white box in his hands that he threw on the sink. he ordered for minho to lift his shirt and with a cocked eyebrow, the older complied. jisung hesitated a moment, fully aware that if he thought about this too much, it would seem way too weird. 

he pushed his gay thoughts aside for a moment and broke out all the knowledge he’d retained from his mother cleaning his scabs when he was younger, it wasn’t a lot but it was enough. he was able to get minhos wound patched up, both boys suspended in silence while jisung worked.

when he finished, he packed up his supplies and turned to the older.

“what happened to you?” he asked, voice shaking.

minho pulled the shirt back down carefully, not meeting jisung’s eye. “it’s nothing to worry about.”

jisung opened his mouth to retort, to protest whatever minho was trying to imply, but the brunet beat him to it. “i should go to bed.”

jisung watched as he squeezed out of the bathroom, his eyes trained on the floor. the hero sighed, exiting the bathroom himself with a grimace. he was startled when arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and minho’s voice whispered right into his ear.

“thank you, jisungie.”

+++

jisung wasn’t sure how it worked, but the burn on his leg was completely gone when he woke up the next day, not even a scratch left behind. he texted felix, apologizing for forgetting to do so the night before, which only led to hyunjin and felix both yelling at him in their group chat for an hour.

the kitchen was quiet, as it usually was on the weekends. jisung didn’t mind staying home, but he did have to admit that he kind of missed minho on the weekends. his roommate would disappear for the entire day, only to come in late and go straight to bed. he never bothered to ask where he was going, but that didn’t stop him from being curious.

today, however, he noticed minho's jacket was still on the coat rack and his keys were still on the coffee table like they were last night. 

as if on cue, a yawn was heard from behind him and jisung turned to see minho standing in his doorway, hair messy and t-shirt hanging off his shoulders. 

“good morning!” he said, chipper as always. jisung grunted in response, taking a sip of his coffee. minho giggled and ruffled his hair as he passed, heading for the coffee maker himself.

“sleep well?” jisung asked after a few more sips.

“i did, did you?” 

jisung nodded, he noticed how careful the older was moving and he suddenly remembered the bandages around his middle. it made him feel sick to his stomach. what could have happened that hurt minho so badly?

“i had an idea,” his roommate turned quickly, “let’s go skating.” 

well he wasn’t expecting that. 

“what?”

“skating. there’s a rollerblading rink nearby. i want to take you as a thank you for yesterday.”

oh holy god. jisung’s poor heart couldn’t handle this, especially not when those eyes were staring deep into his soul, those eyes that seemed to capture every ray of the sun. he didn’t trust his words, simply nodding yes and almost melting on sight when minho lit up.

jisung ended up in a lot of situations in his life, a lot of the time it was his fault too, but never did he think he would end up where he did now.

no amount of flying into burning buildings and lifting coffee cups with his mind had prepared him for the hell that was rollerblading. to make matters worse, minho was an obvious natural.

he’d fallen from some pretty great heights before, but nothing compared to the pain of your ass hitting the floor of the skating rink. seriously, what were these floors made out of? 

he clung to minho for most of it, at one point, holding the others hand as he skated  _ backwards _ . every shriek he let out was countered by the melodic laughing of his roommate, who didn’t stumble even once.

after jisung’s backside was significantly bruised, they headed for ice cream, jisung perched on minho's back because “you expect me to walk, you gremlin?” he was still extremely careful to avoid the bandage. 

conversation flowed easily from the two, finding anything and everything to discuss or even playfully argue about. 

“how could you think watermelon is the best fruit?”

“how could you be so tasteless to refuse to acknowledge that it  _ is  _ the best?”

they hadn't realized how much time they’d spent walking around, going from street to street to window shop, until the sun was setting and the sky was painted a beautiful orange.

it was dark by the time they returned to their dorm, having to sneak past their RA to make it in past curfew. they both giggled when they made it in successfully. 

minho turned on an action movie he had been watching, and the two fell into a debate over whether the hero or the villain was more interesting.

“come on, you’ve gotta root for the good guy.” jisung insisted, waving his hands around with every word he spoke.

“i think the villain is just more complex, he’s more believable.” minho shrugged, smirking at how jisung just seemed to get wilder at that.

“how can you be in favor of a murderer instead of a hero?” jisung scoffed, not noticing how minho's smile dipped a little before snapping back up. 

“the hero’s trying to save a man who’s a murderer. the villain is simply a vigilante.” 

jisung frowned, remembering what the villain dressed in all black had said to him a week before. 

_ “might want to think twice about who you’re defending, hero. i may not be the bad guy here.” _

it sent shivers down his spine. he wasn’t quite sure what the villain meant by that, but it made him uneasy. everything seemed so black and white. this man was a villain, jisung was a hero, but he didn’t seem to think of it that way.

the villain took up a lot of jisung’s late night thoughts, his uneasiness about the situation not doing much to help.  _ why  _ was he thinking about the villain when lee minho was right there?

another argument picked up over the colors of the superhero’s suit, drowning out jisung’s thoughts about the villain. soon, it was past midnight and minho was turning off the movie to go to bed. he stopped in the doorway of his room, waiting for jisung to pass before he grabbed his arm and tugged him forward.

he placed a soft kiss on jisung’s cheek, muttering a soft “goodnight” before ducking into his room and closing the door. jisung’s face burned but a smile stretched across his cheeks. 

minho would be the death of him. he made his way back to his room, falling back on his bed with a sigh, before his eyes went wide and he almost fell to the floor.

did lee minho take him on a date?

+++

arson seemed to be embracing his supervillain role to the fullest, continuously starting fires and calling jisung out into the night to battle him. they’d fought twice since their conversation at pennington, always managing to banter back and forth as they did.

“you know, i gotta ask. was your name made up by a 5-year-old or did you willingly pick it?” arson said one day when they were in a parking garage, tossing each other over cars.

“i guess you could call him that.” jisung said with a particularly hard knock to arsons knee. arson swung back, narrowly missing jisung’s ankles.

“oh, we’re talking about ourselves in the third person now?” his head smashed into a car door for that one.

“you know, for somebody that’s supposed to cause the city terror, you’re quite small.” jisung said once when they were fighting on the roof of an abandoned building. arson had tried to set a news station on fire.

“dumbass,” the villain said, throwing jisung across the roof but not enough to throw him off of it, “i’m taller than you.”

“barely.” 

that battle had ended with jisung flying off the roof and arson disappearing into thin air by the time he got back.

jisung was ashamed to admit that he thought he and arson would probably get along behind the masks.

it was deep into the night when his phone rang, a loud and obnoxious ringtone he hoped didn’t wake minho. his voice was laced with sleep when he answered, not even bothering to check who it was.

“what do you want, felix?” he moaned into the phone, letting his head fall back against the pillow.

“sorry to do this to you, but arson just hit lancaster and co. he hacked all their networks and now he’s in the pennington building again.”

jisung sighed, pulling his sleep-deprived body from the covers and running a hand through his hair. he figured he could afford to go with pajamas under his suit this time. 

it took him longer than necessary to suit-up, but as soon as his mask was in place, he slipped in his comms unit and headed out the window. he’d been in the city so much over the past few weeks, the journey to pennington didn’t even seem far anymore. 

he was surprised to see that the city was mostly quiet, no smoke in the sky or flames to trademark the villains presence. but if he wasn’t setting buildings on fire, what was he actually doing?

the 32nd floor was the only one with lights on and after trying and failing to locate an entry point, he knew he had no other choice than to go in through the window.

han jisung was a master at making an entrance and what better way than to crash through a window at 3 a.m.

shards of glass surrounded his body and part of him wondered how arson had done it so effortlessly just a few nights ago. he found

himself wondering if arson had healing powers like he did, if arson walked around with cuts on his face and bruises on his body like an everyday citizen. 

the villain didn’t even glance up when jisung entered, didn’t acknowledge the other's presence in the room until he finished what he was typing.

“what’s your thing with busting into windows?” he asked, face hidden mainly by shadows. 

“it’s a dramatic way of making my presence known.” jisung replied, falling into the usual cocky smirk he seemed to take on with the other. arson’s eyes were still trained on the monitor as he hummed a response. he glanced up, doing a double-take before raising a brow.

“why are you standing like that?”

“standing like what?”

“don’t stand like that.”

“what do you mean, this is how i stand.”

“no, it isn’t.”

“yes it— what’s wrong with the way i stand?”

“you're standing like a sim.”

“what if it’s my simsona, you don’t know my life.”

“oh my— it’s called a simself.”

“why are we arguing about sim terminology when i’m supposed to be kicking your ass?” 

a desk chair came soaring at jisung’s head, taking out the rest of the glass behind him. 

“hey! no fair!” he whined when the glass crunches under his boots.

“you sound like my roommate.” arson rolled his eyes. 

jisung moved the entire desk toward the villain, a drawer flying out and smacking him across the face. he fell to the ground with a scowl. “he sounds like a great guy, love to meet him someday.”

arson grabbed one of the desktops he wasn’t using. it smashed into jisung’s side. “you wish.” the villain retorted.

the fight escalated from there. arson threw a flaming trash can, jisung threw phones. when they got closer, objects turned into fists and soon enough it was just like all their other fights.

arson threw a right hook. “i hate this suit, you look like a muppet.” 

jisung dodged the punch, driving his foot into the other’s thigh. “at least i’m from this decade. where’d you get the leather pants from? the 1950s?”

jisung’s head hit a desk, before he was thrown backwards, his lower back colliding with a different desk. arson threw a punch at his face which jisung dodged, countering by grabbing the villains wrist and head-butting him.

“why do you do this? going after a bad guy doesn’t necessarily make you a good guy.”

arson scoffed. “there’s no such thing as good guys and bad guys. we’re all gray, some lighter and some darker, but we’re all gray.”

arson wasn’t prepared for the swing at his head and he involuntarily launched a ball of fire through the ceiling, which came back down and went through the floor. 

he grabbed a briefcase, swinging at jisung’s head. the blond ducked taking the opportunity to grab arson’s knees, sending him into the desk chair behind him. jisung pivoted on one foot, hitting the other straight in the chest and the chair flew backwards. 

the kick was too strong though, because arson couldn’t stop the chair before it hit the glass, breaking the window and tumbling out. jisung didn’t know if the other could fly, suddenly terrified. 

he rushed to the window, his heart beating in his ears. what had he done? what if he killed him? oh god, arson was a villain but there was good in him, jisung knew that from the beginning.

he let out a sigh of relief seeing arson over the edge. he was clutching one of the curtains, barely holding on. jisung leaned down, beginning to reach for the other.

the building shook and the curtain ripped from the rod. luckily, jisung had quick reflexes and grabbed the boys forearm just before he plummeted to his death.

arson gazed up at him, his eyes bore into jisung. the latter wasn’t sure why he’d suddenly froze, but looking down at the villain, he couldn’t help but feel that something was clicking into place, something that he couldn’t identify.

“you gonna drop me?” arsons voice was strained, less stoic. there was something in those words. jisung realized it was fear. he was suddenly reminded of who he was, of who this person probably was. they were young. this was another person, a boy just like him.

“not exactly.” 

“then what?” despite the way arson’s words were spoken, with an edge like always, the grip on jisung’s wrist spoke volumes.

“i should so let you fall right now.” he found himself voicing his thoughts aloud.

“then why don’t you?” that scared him more than anything he’d faced so far. arson was a boy, he couldn’t be much older than jisung himself, this was a boy looking into the face of someone who at this moment posed a threat to his life. this was a boy, afraid, but not of death. 

“because i’m not a monster.”

the building shook again as he pulled the other up, both of them landing side by side by the window, breathing heavily. the building around them was collapsing, the hole in the floor from arson’s accidental fireball growing wider with each passing moment.

they sat among the shattered glass for a moment, allowing the fear to drain from both their bodies. arson barked a short laugh and jisung looked up, making eye contact. arson froze.

jisung saw the boys eyes get wider, the blood disappear from his face, his mouth agape. the cold night air brushed over jisung’s confused face and he checked his body for any serious injuries. he didn’t  _ feel _ injured.

his eyes caught a piece of plastic next to him and he realized much too late what he was looking at.

his mask had come off, probably when he pulled the other boy up. jisung froze too. this was bad, very bad.

he didn’t have much time to entertain his horrific thoughts though, because another violent shake ripples through the building and the floor curved inwards. he grabbed ahold of the window sill with one hand, still holding arsons with the other as furniture began to slide past them into the blaze.

he had an idea, the only way to make sure both of them got out of here.

“i’m gonna ask you to do something crazy.” he said to the other boy, still gripping his hand despite everything.

“nothing’s crazy when the alternative is death, jisung.” arson replied. his cold exterior didn’t do much though, not when his eyes were filled with fear like they were.

“trust me?”

arson looked surprised at that but he nodded, grip tightening subconsciously. and so, with the others confirmation, jisung let go of the window sill.

they started toward the fire, but it allowed jisung enough time to trigger his power and with one swift movement, he was flying away from the building, arson pressed tight against him.

the villain had his eyes closed as they soared through the air, prompting jisung to ask why.

“i don’t like heights, i  _ really _ don’t like heights.” arson replied in a whiny tone. jisung’s eyebrows furrowed.

“then why do you keep setting  _ skyscrapers  _ on fire?” he asked as he brought them closer to the ground. he couldn’t help but feel that something about the boy was nostalgic. perhaps it was the strangely strong smell emitting off of him.

“trust me, it’s not my preference either.” 

jisung didn’t push it any further, allowing both of their feet to touch the ground in an alley a few blocks away. from here, he could still see the building as it collapsed in on itself, the floors all swallowed by the flames. 

“god, that’s gonna be such a mess.” he spoke out loud, wincing when the top floors completely collided with the mid-level.

“to clean, maybe. the company will just file for bankruptcy. this is nothing to them.” arsons voice was devoid of the playful tone he usually held when he spoke to jisung, it reminded the blond less of a boy and more of an evil villain.

“perhaps you’re right. but what about all those people without a job?” he couldn’t understand arson, there was something odd about him.

“they’ll find somewhere else. anywhere else is better than working for that douchebag.” he grumbled, arms folded across his chest. jisung was suddenly reminded of something, something he hadn’t caught until now. 

“you knew my name.” his voice was barely above a whisper.

“huh?” arson didn’t sound interested.

“you knew my name. you called me jisung earlier. how do you know my name?” he saw this eyes he recognized go wide, matching his curious gaze with one of panic. a loud crash behind them had jisung turning at lightning speed, watching as pennington tech collapsed around itself completely and the entire building came down.

“oh my god,” jisung breathed, his hand finding his mouth as he watched. he spun around to comment, but arson was gone, disappeared like he’d never been there. and now, jisung was afraid.

because arson knew who he was and he didn’t have the slightest clue who arson was.

+++

something was going on with minho.

jisung returned home that night, a little dazed and he didn’t really remember the walk (or flight?) home. he just knew he was climbing in the window to his living room at a horrible time of the morning and that minho wasn’t in his bed when he checked.

he waited as long as he could for the older to show, but ultimately he had to go to class. 

it felt strange going about his day, knowing that anybody around him could be arson. he wasn’t exactly afraid of the villain, he’d had plenty of chances to kill jisung before, but he never took them. it occurred to jisung that everytime they fought, arson was never fighting to harm, he was fighting to escape.

it still unnerved him, and talking with hyunjin and felix didn’t make it much better. as hard as they tried to avoid superhero stuff, it seemed to just keep making its way into conversation and jisung fakes a cough to get out of it. he wanted to talk to minho, the only friend of his who he knew would cheer him up, but minho never showed.

in fact, minho didn’t show for days.

when he finally did come home after five days of being away, he faced several questions the minute he walked in the door. he ignored all of jisung’s pestering by keeping his head down and slamming his dorm in the youngers face.

it hurt. jisung was paranoid and stressed and all he wanted to do was talk to his best friend. maybe minho had caught on, maybe he’d figured out that the youngers feelings towards him were not  _ entirely  _ platonic. 

had jisung been reading the situation wrong? was minho even really gay? oh god, what if minho wasn’t even gay? what if the pride flag in his room was for the aesthetic? oh, jisung would throw himself off a cliff if he fell for a straight guy.

after three days of straight up ignoring jisung’s existence whilst living in the same apartment, the younger had  _ enough.  _ no, he didn’t have a plan and no, he didn’t know what he was going to say, but here he stood outside of minho's room, a determined look on his face.

if he was going to embarrass himself, he might as well do it now. jisung took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

there was shuffling from inside, followed by a few whispered curses, and then the door swung open. minho didn’t look surprised to see jisung standing there, though he did look nervous. the older opened his mouth to say something, but jisung best him to it.

“what’s your deal?” jisung blurted, fighting the urge to slap a hand over his own mouth. he had such a way with words, huh.

minho raised an eyebrow. “my deal? i don’t know what you’re talking about.”

jisung hated how neutral he sounded, how nonchalant he was to the whole situation. he huffed a sigh. this wasn’t going to be easy. luckily, jisung wasn’t looking for easy.

“i’m sorry if i made you uncomfortable but you could’ve talked to me instead of shutting me out and making me think something was wrong for literally five days before showing up and acting like i don’t exist.” jisung did not breathe one time during the rant, taking a huge breath afterwards to recover.

minho just stood there, shellshocked. jisung figures that was enough embarrassment for tonight and began to head back to his room, where he would listen to sad music and debate his existence until 5 am, but his plans were interrupted when a hand grabbed his arm.

minho pulled him into his room, shutting the door behind the younger. “i’m sorry.” he said, voice soft and quiet. 

he landed on his bed with a groan, running his hands down his face. jisung stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure of what to say or do next. he opted for sitting on the edge of the bed, the silence ringing in his ears.

“uh. i don’t know exactly what i did, but i’m sorry if i made you uncomfortable.” jisung apologized again and this time, minho looked him square in the eye.

“you don’t make me uncomfortable.” his words were stern but jisung still felt like there was something he needed to say.

“i just— i’m bad at reading situations and i don’t really know what’s going on.” he whispered, not even sure minho could hear him.

judging by the hand that brushed his hair from his face, he’s assuming he did.

“i’m sorry i’ve been so distant. i’ve just been dealing with some...things. but it’s nothing you’ve done or can help with, i promise.” 

jisung sighed in relief. “you know, if you wanted to talk about something, i’m always ready to listen. you’re not just my roommate anymore, you’re my friend.” okay so the word burned jisung’s throat a little bit he’ll live. 

minho, however, grimaced at it. “jisung, can i be honest?”

the blond nodded quickly. 

“i like you. a lot. and not in a friend-kind-of-way.” 

jisung is pretty sure his heart had stopped beating. 

he could feel the tension being released from his shoulders. minho likes him. he wasn’t misreading anything. “i like you too, minho.”

“that’s why i can't do this.”

wait, huh.

jisung’s gaze snapped up to meet minho’s, but the brunet wouldn’t look at him. he was playing with his fingers, not daring to even look away from them.

“jisung, i’ve done some...bad things. i’ve hurt people. you don’t deserve that.” minho was mumbling but his tone left no room for discussion, still jisung didn’t move from his spot.

“nobody is completely innocent, minho.” he rested his hands on top of the older’s, the fidgeting ceasing with the movement. minho met his eyes.

“you wouldn’t like me if you knew me.”

jisung moves closer, moving his hands to clasp his palms with minhos. he was dangerously close to the older’s lips. 

“i like everything so far.”

he could see minho leaning in slightly, their noses brushing. and jisung would have been totally fine if they’d kissed right then and there, but his annoying ringtone had to go off and minho startled, pulling away.

jisung groaned, fishing his phone out of his pocket. oh he was going to  _ kill _ felix.

“felix.” he grit his teeth.

“—y. jisung! you need to get down here right now. i think you’ll wanna see this.” he could hear the youngers voice cutting in and out, but he wasn’t quite convinced of the severity.

“felix, i’m kind of in the middle of something—“

“holy shit! jisung you need to get here right now! we’re at the lab, you remember the one of 12th and 44th right?”

before jisung could respond, the line went dead. as much as he hated to do it, he knew he didn’t really have a choice. he turned back toward minho.

“i have to go…”

jisung expected the other to be upset with him, but he simply smiled, something flickering in his eyes knowingly. jisung didn’t say anything more, moving as quickly as he could to get to felix. 

the lab was harder to find than jisung had remembered, barely remembering the street number he’d come across, but he eventually located the door to the underground headquarters.

when he came down the stairs, he found seungmin standing over one of his operating tables, hyunjin laying flat on his back with a glass of water in his hand.

“what the hell happened?” jisung said, seeing his friends state. all heads snapped up at his arrival. 

“he fainted, nothing serious.” changbin assured , dabbing a white cloth across hyunjins forehead. 

jisung walked over to the table, almost chuckling at hyunjins expression. “hey buddy, how are you feeling?” he asked as sweet as possible.

hyunjin groaned. “don’t patronize me, gremlin. i’m feeling great.” he looked like he was going to vomit. jisung did laugh at that.

“what exactly happened?” he asked, immediately noticing how nobody met his eye.

“well…” felix started, “you might want to sit down.”

jisung raised an eyebrow, but pulled up a chair. felix was ringing his hands together nervously.

“you know how i’ve always been good with technology and hyunjin’s always been amazing at finding where arson is? and you know how changbin is so strong and seungmin is so smart and—“

“lix. what’s going on?”

“you’re not the only freak in the city. neither is arson.” he rushed out, stopping his pacing to face jisung. 

“...what?”

felix ran his hands through his hair. “i can manipulate technology. i don’t know how but it explains how i’ve been able to find a way around firewalls and coding and hacking easily. hyunjin can track superhumans, he says it’s an aura—“

“yours is green, jisung.” hyunjin interrupts weakly.

“—and we think seungmin can heal people and changbin has the strength of a semi-truck in his biceps so there may be six freaks in the city after all.”

felix's face was red, his chest rising and falling rapidly when he finished, awaiting jisung’s response. jisung just stared, trying to gauge any humorous glint in his friends eye. felix just stared back, steady.

“explain…”

seungmin stepped up, resting a hand on felix's shoulder and quietly asking him to go help hyunjin. 

“after you left here last time, changbin and i knew something was up. we’ve been aware of our abilities since childhood, but we didn’t really understand them. i asked felix a few days after you left how you’ve been dealing with your powers. he told me about the uh, the crash.

“the setting was weird and i could tell felix thought that was the source of your abilities, but neither of us were convinced. then i saw felix doing some hacking stuff a few days later. it’s weird, it’s like he can speak to the programs and tell them what he wants them to do. i had my suspensions about hyunjin after that as well.”

jisung was speechless, uncharacteristically so. they were all watching him, save for hyunjin who was quietly humming to himself with his eyes closed. jisung figured he would be loopy for a little while.

jisung took a deep breath. “any other surprises you want to tell me about before i lose my absolute shit?”

seungmim glanced after changbin. so, it wasn’t over.

changbin left hyunjins side to pull up a computer he’d been on when the others arrived. “we found—well,  _ felix  _ found—some security camera footage that survived the lancaster fire. the image was blurry but we knew how to clean it up and with the four of us working on it, we found something.”

“get to the point.” 

changbin hesitated but he flipped the monitor around, displaying a full page of information and an unloaded picture.

“we found arson’s real identity.” 

a few seconds passed and then the picture loaded.

“his name is lee minho, he—“

jisung wasn’t listening anymore. his head felt fuzzier the longer he stared at the picture. the eyes. those  _ fucking  _ eyes. no wonder he knew them.

“he’s my roommate.” jisung cut changbin off mid-sentence. he didn’t really hear the reaction to that, just stared blankly at the photo of his roommate, of the boy he liked, next to the name of the villain he fought.

voices mixed together, the ringing in his ears getting louder, the room suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. he wasn’t sure who was speaking to him when he got up, all he knew was that he could not be in the room any longer. he sighed as cold air hit his lungs, his back falling against the building.

he hated how much things made sense, but he hated more so the way he never realized.

+++

“—that doesn’t mean—“

changbin was mid-sentence when the door behind jisung slammed shut. he groaned, shooting a glance at seungmin. the younger shrugged, patting a newly wet towel over hyunjins head. 

“he’ll be okay.” felix whispered, helping hyunjin sit up when the brunet let out a pained moan. 

“what are we talking about?” hyunjins voice was groggy and felix sighed knowing he’d passed out again mid-conversation.

“jisung found out something about arson.” he replied, rubbing circles on hyunjins back. hyunjin looked confused.

“and they were roommates.” seungmin supplies that bit, making eye contact with changbin as he said it. hyunjin gasped.

“oh my god. they were roommates.” 

he opened his eyes just in time to see seungmin present a hand and he giggled as he high-fived the other boy. felix scoffed but smiled anyway.

hyunjin leaned his head on felix's shoulder, playing the younger boys fingers and smiling to himself before something dawned on him. “wait. jisung has been living under the same room as his enemy? this whole time?”

seungmin nodded, going back to typing on the laptop. hyunjin’s eyes were wide. 

“what’s his family name again?”

seungmin typed some more before turning the screen around again. “it’s lee.”

hyunjin froze when he saw the picture.

“guys. i hate to be the one to say it, but if that’s arson, then i think we have a problem on our hands.”

+++

jisung was running on negative 2 energy points.

he’d walked back to his dorm, yes  _ walked,  _ like a pedestrian. he’s feeling slightly less lightheaded being outside, but there’s still a pull at his lungs, still a lump that rests in his throat for miles.

when he climbs through the window of his dorm, he isn’t sure if minho is home, isn’t sure if he wants him to be. jisung shuts his door, pacing about in his bedroom. 

minho is arson. the villain jisung wants to save so badly is his roommate. the boy he tries to ignore the urge to kiss is his enemy. arson is minho. they’re the same person, and jisung has a connection with both of them.

but the fact still stands, has always stood, about arson. arson  _ is  _ a villain. arson locked a man in his office and left him to die. arson tied a man up and left him to burn. arson destroyed buildings and jobs and set fires and would’ve been successful if jisung wasn’t there.

arson would’ve been a murderer. 

arson was his roommate, that was hard to accept, but minho was a villain, that was harder to accept. 

minho was who everyone pitted against him.  _ minho _ .

jisung couldn't take it anymore.

he threw open the door to minho's room, admittedly glad to find the older wasn't there, and he said a silent apology to his roommate for what he was about to do.

jisung kept his suit in a box, tucked under his bed and covered with shoes and blankets. he checked there first, finding nothing more than candy wrappers and a pair of earbuds minho had complained about losing.

he’d searched almost every place he could think of, ready to completely give up as he flopped onto minho's bed. there was an uncomfortable squeaking, one that didn’t sound like a mattress. he bounced a few more times, the squeaking occurring with each move.

jisung lifted the mattress, his eyes bulging when he realized what he was sitting on. leather. black leather.

he lifted the mask, the one he regularly saw arson use, and his heart dropped. it felt cold under his fingertips. jisung was so in his own head, he didn’t hear the door open or the call of his name. 

he did, however, register the figure standing in the doorway.

“so, now you know.” the sudden voice startled him. 

minho was looking at the mask, a pained look on his face and tears in his eyes. his breathing was heavy and shaky, his fingers digging into his palms.

“why?” jisung choked out. he saw minho exhale.

“what do you want me to say? that i’m sorry?” minho scoffed, “it's not like you’d get it.” 

jisung swallowed. “is this why you’ve been distant?” he needed to know that much at least.

minho nodded, refusing to meet jisung’s eye.

“i told you. i knew you wouldn’t like me, not once you knew me.” he was trying so hard not to cry right now.

“just tell me why. give me an explanation, any explanation!” the mask was balled in his fist, his grip getting tighter with each word. minho finally looked up, finally looked him in the eye.

but the eyes that stared back at him weren’t the bright and lively eyes that held the universe, weren’t the fearless and cocky eyes that made his body feel on fire. they were empty, devoid of that sparkle he loved.

“why?” minho spit back, “so you can tell me how i’m in the wrong? how it’s my fault? no thanks.” minho pivoted, his footsteps heavy as he headed towards the door, but jisung was nothing if not stubborn.

“minho.” no response. “minho!” the older stopped, but he didn’t turn around.

“i may not know you. but i know you aren’t a bad person. please,  _ please.” _

he saw minho's shoulders slump, but he still didn't turn. 

“there’s no such thing—“

“as good guys and bad guys? fine, i’ll give you that. but minho, you aren’t as dark as you think. even as arson, you weren’t entirely dark. you didn’t fight against me, you fought for yourself.”

minho cast a glance over his shoulder and that's when jisung knew for certain. it didn’t matter what he’d done, it didn’t matter because jisung knew minho. jisung knew he wasn’t malicious, he wasn’t evil. he wasn’t arson. he was minho. he loved watermelon and cats and the color mint. he was a good person, a lighter gray.

“jisung, how did you discover your powers?” that question surprised him.

jisung took a deep breath, staring at the others back as his fingers danced around each other.

“there was a bad plane crash when i was 15. i...i was the only survivor. a bunch of people died, including…” there was a pressure in jisung’s chest, “including my parents.”

there was silence for a minute. 

“i’m sorry.” minho whispered, just loud enough for jisung to hear it.

“it’s...okay. i went to therapy for a while. i’m not ashamed of it anymore. i dealt with survivors guilt for a while. that’s when i first started noticing it.” despite how difficult it had been to say, jisung didn’t feel heavy after he said it. he didn’t feel the weight on his shoulders that he usually did, didn’t feel judged.

minho turned around now, his eyes still downcast. then, he began to speak.

“i was born in a lab, if you can call it being born. i was raised by scientists, a group of them looked after me and took care of me. they wanted to help me grow and control my powers, but they never pushed me too hard. when i was five, things changed. they started collecting more children like me, taking them from their homes and using them to play into their experiments.

“i found out that it was because of the funding. the lab had been bought by two investors, two businessmen who cared solely about how much money they could make off of us. it became a prison, jisung. the minute we were locked in cages to sleep, i knew we were just dollar signs to them. so i broke out when i was six, me and four other boys. we freed every caged child we could find and then we fled. and we never looked back.”

tear drops were hitting the floor as he spoke, attempting to steady his breathing. minho sniffled, rubbing at his eyes.

“i still keep in contact with two of them, but the others were younger than me and they don’t remember, who knows if they’ve even realized their abilities yet. and you know the best part?” minho laughed, bitterly. “those two assholes who kidnapped us? they just went on with their lives. made names for themselves, made empires.”

it sunk in for jisung at that moment and he remembered minho's words to him. 

_ “might want to think twice about who you’re defending, hero. i may not be the bad guy here.” _

“pennington and lancaster.” he breathed, realization finally registering. minho nodded with another sniffle.

“i never had much to begin with, but they still took everything from me. i was so traumatized, jisung. i couldn’t even speak a word to my adoptive parents for weeks.” his voice cracked.

“and then one day, i see the news, rumors of a boy who flys and moves things with his mind. and i think to myself “maybe people would understand” you know? maybe other kids survived that night, maybe we could get back at those men who ruined us.”

jisung met minho’s gaze, saw the hurt and hint of betrayal in them. 

“and then, what do you know, he becomes my enemy. my only other enemy.” 

the tears in jisung’s eyes fell then. his childhood had always been unclear, the memories either fuzzy or nonexistent. the fragments he did hold never made much sense, never held any meaning. he didn’t understand himself, not until the crash, not until he found his ability.

and he’d made an enemy of the only other person like him and he’d done it to protect the men who had treated them both like a science project.

“it’s not your fault.” minho said suddenly. “you had no way of knowing.” 

jisung shook his head, tears running down his cheeks. there was shuffling, and then soft hands pressing to the side of his face. he lifted his head slowly, finding minho's eyes gazing back at him.

“i’m so sorry. for everything that’s happened.” his voice came out in a whisper. minho shook his head.

“you didn’t know. but you do now.” minho had calmed down a lot, his eyes now looked more like what jisung knew. but the younger couldn't shake the feeling, he needed to make it up to minho.

“what can i do to fix this? tell me what to do and i’ll do it, they have to pay for this.” jisung realized everything he was saying was entirely true. right now, looking at minho, he knew he’d do anything asked of him. 

minho smiled. “i have an idea.” he replied, caressing the younger’s cheeks with his thumbs.

jisung raised his eyebrows in question, expecting a plan or something from the boy in front of him, but instead, minho dipped down and pressed his lips to his.

jisung froze for a second, before he slowly kissed his roommate back. 

jisung wasn’t in love with minho, not yet anyway, but he knew he could be one day. he liked minho, he  _ really  _ liked him. 

his roommate had flaws, but so did everybody, he wasn’t perfect and jisung didn’t expect him to be. nobody was completely black or completely white on the inside, we were all just different shades of gray.

+++

_ 3 months later.  _

“any minute now.”

“he won’t do it.”

“he’s gonna do it.”

“bet you ten dollars he won’t.”

“you obviously don’t know jongho.”

as if on cue, a bright purple gleam emitted from central park, a mixture of screams and crashes flooding into the air.

“where my ten dollars?” minho asked cheekily, shooting his boyfriend a smirk. jisung rolled his eyes and slapped the bill in his hand. 

they were both perched on the fire escape, watching as the radioactive beams from the bar spread. 

“we should go join the fun.” jisung commented, pulling on his mask. minho barked a laugh.

“just remember, we’re on different teams, han.” he said in a teasing manner. he looked over, seeing minho in his new red suit with the smirk on his face that jisung would never get tired of.

he leaned over, connecting his lips to the older’s for a brief moment. “that’s okay.” jisung whispered against his lips, “i’m gonna beat you in the end.”

“you’d be hopeless if i didn’t let you win.” minho whispered back. 

“oh is that what we’re calling it now?”

“hey!” but jisung was gone, floating several feet above where he’d been sitting to avoid the slap on his arm. he giggled at the scowl on minho's face, flying back down to press a chaste kiss on the others lips again.

“i love you.”

“i know.”

“you’re insufferable.”

“i have never claimed otherwise.” 

jisung’s phone rang just as they both giggled, the blond taking it from his pocket with a fond roll of his eyes.

“hey felix, what's up?” he knew what was up.

“central park. there’s radioactivity and a hell of a lot of—hyunjin, jisungs on the phone.” he heard a loud whine. “anyway, there’s a hell of a lot of power coming from the area, you need to get there quickly.”

jisung smiled, locking eyes with minho who was already pulling his mask on.

“we’ll be right there.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
